BREAKING NEWS – Atlanta, Georgia – Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is facing sharp criticism as her city faces its deadliest year in decades.
Three killings in less than 24 hours over the Christmas weekend boosted the number of homicides this year to 154, the highest since 1998, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Bottoms’ administration was already facing public criticism for an overall rise in violent crime.
“It is obvious that the civilian authorities do not control the streets and cannot provide even a token feeling of safety beyond our front doors,” City Councilman Howard Shook said in a statement on Dec. 22, before the recent slayings.
“I totally disagree with Councilman Shook’s assessment and his stats,” explained Bottoms. “I spoke to everyone that lives on my block, and none of my neighbors have been victims or violent crimes, nor has any of them reported any burglaries of their mansions. So based on those facts, I have seen no evidence of an increase in crime.”